OUT & ABOUT: Organizing The Anti-Voter-ID Movement

Last week, we found out that according to the Pennsylvania Dept. of State, the folks who gave us the voter-ID law that will be making the voting process just that much more interesting come November, about 90% of all Pennsylvanians have the proper state-sponsored ID they’ll need to vote. That’s a nice number on paper.

But here’s what it doesn’t say…. It doesn’t say that 10% of all Pennsylvanians don’t have the proper ID. And it really doesn’t say 18% of all Philadelphians don’t have it. That’s 186,000 Philadelphians, if you’re playing at home. About 6% to 8% of folks in the Philly burbs are also ID-deficient.

In one of those stories that shows Republicans are still pretty media-savvy despite the fact the adults no longer run things, the Philadelphia Inquirer published a piece with the facts I just shared with you. Or at least some of them. The statistic about 18% of all Philadelphians not having ID came from the folks at the Pennsylvania Voter ID Coalition, a nonpartisan group of voting-rights advocates who want to make sure everyone who wants to has what they need to vote in the November elections.

I went to a Voter ID Coalition meeting on Tuesday and these folks heard the same numbers I just gave you. Because of this, they’re mobilizing and getting ready to take to the streets and make sure that you know what you’re gonna need to get your vote on. A new Pennsylvania Voter ID Coalition office will be opening at 310 W. Chelten Avenue on Jul. 21, according to Joe Certaine, the City’s former managing director, head of the coalition, and one of the most-organized men I’ve ever seen.

To make sure that everyone can vote this fall, there’s going to be some serious outreach needed, Certaine said. “We’re going to need as many volunteers as we can get,” he said. “This is a call for all hands. The work isn’t done at these meetings, it’s done in the field.” And there’s a lot of field work that’s on the horizon as organizations including the AARP, the League of Women Voters, the Committee of 70, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Advancement Project and the Pennsylvania NAACP go out and mobilize their individual constituents and city residents overall.

On Friday, the Advancement Project holds a press conference to make people aware some natives of Puerto Rico might find voting difficult because the Federal Government invalidated their birth certificates a while back. (Puerto Ricans are Americans, just in case someone wants to say, “Illegal aliens shouldn’t be allowed to vote” here.…) AARP is having a rally on Jul. 19 to try and mobilize seniors and get information to them about how to preserve their voting rights. And on Jul. 24, the day before the lawsuit filed against the voter-ID law is scheduled to go to court in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania NAACP is holding a rally to dramatize their opposition to the law … a rally that may or may not feature some of the national heavy-hitters the NAACP is known to attract.

The NAACP has taken these voter-ID laws kind of personally because of their perception the laws are aimed at a very specific pool of voters, said John Jordan, director of Civic Engagement for the Pennsylvania NAACP. “This is strategic, well-funded and targeted at the populations that came out in high numbers in 2008: students, senior citizens and women,” he said. “If you want to control the election, you disenfranchise these groups. This is a direct attack on voting rights.”

Now despite the fact State Rep. Mike Turzai let rip a remark that might be perceived as evidence the state’s voter-ID law is one that’s designed to do one thing: cost President Barack Obama Pennsylvania, no matter who gets hurt in the process – there’s no telling how the court will rule on the lawsuit. So all of the groups are getting ready to mobilize, get folks to the polls, and, as Jordan put it, have a team of election lawyers on hand to protect voting rights.

I’ll be at the rally in Harrisburg on the 24th for no other reason but I’m interested in seeing who shows up. But I’m more interested in seeing how the state is going to continue to spin the fact that 186,000 people in a predominantly minority area that came out heavily for President Obama in 2008 don’t have ID to vote, and will thus be disenfranchised.

And I’m really interested in seeing who among our state leaders really thinks that’s okay.

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